


four in the morning

by atthenian



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Friends to Lovers, M/M, security guard au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 12:18:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19273150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atthenian/pseuds/atthenian
Summary: Bruce works the night shift at an office building because he doesn't like talking to people. Clark joins the night shift after working the day shift and unfortunately for Bruce, he's very talkative.Security guard AU based off an idea by @vimeddiee on tumblr





	four in the morning

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this incredible art by @vimeddiee on tumblr (https://vimeddiee.tumblr.com/post/146471260052/superbat-security-guard-au-from-twitter-clark)  
> This is my first ever fanfic so please bear with me while I figure all this out :D

Bruce liked working the night shift at the JL Enterprises office building for a number of reasons, but the main one was that he rarely had to speak to anyone. There were only five people in total on his night shift, and for the majority of his shift, he rarely saw them. There was Diana Prince, who was a tall, beautiful woman with unruly dark hair that was usually pulled back into a loose ponytail and a thick accent that Bruce couldn’t quite place. There were two university students who worked during the holidays, Dick and Todd. More often than not, Bruce would find Dick asleep somewhere he shouldn’t be or with his headphones in at full volume, while Jason was known to sneak off for extra breaks to smoke or just check his phone. Despite this, Bruce could never bring himself to tell Jon or scold them. Diana said Bruce was going soft, which Bruce always responded to by just grunting.

 

The other guard on the night shift was a blonde woman named Kara Danvers. Somehow, she was always incredibly cheery and generally had a sunny disposition. Bruce had no clue how she managed to be so chipper all the time, or why she didn’t work the day shift. She would always shrug whenever he asked that and simply say “I like the quiet of the night shift.”

 

The night shift at JL Enterprises usually entailed doing checks of the exits on every floor and making sure that all the floors that were only used during the daytime where locked up, patrolling the corridors and monitoring the cameras. Occasionally, they would have to monitor anyone who stayed after the usual nine to five employees had left, and gently tell them to go home when they stayed too late to be healthy. The top two floors were always in use, as it housed the 24/7 call centre, which had around-the-clock workers. Bruce didn’t like going into the call centre if he could help it. The people who worked there clearly didn’t want to be there, and half the time seemed to be caught up with arguments with customers on the phone.

 

What Bruce like most about the night shift is that he had to talk to very few people; the very reason he had taken up the night shift was so that would have to work with as few people as possible. It wasn't that Bruce wasn't a people person, he could be very charming when he wanted to be, but at work he was usually not caffeinated enough to turn on the charm. Besides, security guards aren't exactly supposed to be talkative. Bruce was lost in thought during his 3am break, when Kara interrupted his train of thought. She sat on the battered sofa across from where Bruce was, cradling her mug of peppermint tea as they both absentmindedly watched the TV that always seemed to be on.

 

“I’m switching to the day shift tomorrow.”

 

Bruce started, sitting up and nearly spilling his fourth coffee of the shift. “What? Why?”

 

“It’s not forever, it's just for a month or two. My sister got hospitalised a few days ago and I want to be able to see her during normal people hours, not vampire hours.” She chuckled.

 

“What happened to your sister?” Bruce asked, furrowing his brow. Kara was still watching the TV, rather than looking at him.

 

“She got into a car accident. Luckily, it's just a few broken ribs and a broken leg. We live together, so I’m really the only one who can take care of her at the moment. But don’t worry, Jon has sorted out a replacement for a bit.”

 

Bruce groaned. “Great, more newbies.” Kara laughed softly.

 

“Nah, this is a guy from the day shift, Clark Kent. We’re just swapping over. He’s been here as long as you have, if not longer.” Bruce’s ears pricked up. At least he wouldn’t have to babysit another new employee. He already had his hands full trying to keep Dick and Todd in line.

 

“Do you know him?”

 

“Yeah, he’s my cousin. He’s an absolute sweetheart, so I have no doubt he’ll fit right into our routine.” Kara looked at Bruce for a moment, studying him, seemingly deep in thought. “I think you two would get along.” Bruce grunted in response. Kara looked down at her watch and sighed. “Right, back to it. Only three and a half hours left to go.” Bruce groaned, and hauled himself up out of his seat.

 

“Not long to go now.”

  


Bruce spent the rest of his shift thinking about this Clark guy. Kara had mentioned that he was a cousin of hers, which worried him slightly. If he was as cheery as she was, he was going to take a long time getting used to him. Bruce decided that he was going to at least try to make an effort to get along with him, and if they didn’t get along, then it would be fine. Clark was only going to be on the night shift for a month.

 

Bruce arrived to work exactly 7 minutes earlier than usual. He was oddly nervous to meet Clark. Bruce and Kara often had patrols together, so he would be spending a lot of time with him, whether he liked it or not. The break room was noisy when he entered, the TV was on full volume, showing some evening chat show, and Dick and Diana were chatting noisily over it while they got ready for the long shift ahead of them. Jason was nowhere to be seen yet, but that wasn’t particularly unusual. Diana raised an eyebrow when she noticed Bruce.

 

“Oh Wayne, you’re early. What’s the special occasion?” She asked. Bruce rolled his eyes.

 

“Maybe I felt like being early for a change?” Diana shook her head.

 

“No, that can’t be it. You must be wanting to make a good impression for that guy swapping with Danvers.” Bruce scoffed and rolled his eyes again.

 

“As if. I don’t care about this guy. If he’s anything like Danvers, he’ll be way too friendly and upbeat for me to handle.”

 

As if on cue, the door to the break room opened and their supervisor Jon walked into the room, followed by Who Bruce assumed was Clark. Clark was a tall, wide man with jet black hair that was mostly tamed back by what appeared to be sheer willpower, except for a rebellious curl above his forehead and a pair of deep blue eyes. He was in the blue uniform of the day staff, as opposed to the all black of the night uniform, and he had a ridiculous red belt with a matching red radio on his hip. However, the first thing Bruce noticed about him as he entered the break room was his somewhat blinding smile. Bruce nearly squinted at the sight of it and put his sunglasses on.

 

"Everyone, this is Clark Kent. He's filling in for Kara for a bit while her sister is in hospital." Jon went around the room, introducing everyone. “Clark, this is Prince, Grayson and Wayne. Todd is supposed to be around here somewhere, I’m sure you’ll run into him later on. Everyone, be nice to Clark here, he’s not used to the graveyard shift.” He gestured to Bruce.

 

"Wayne will be showing you around for a bit, just so you get used to how the night shift works. I'm sure you'll find it's a little different from the day shift." Jon said with a wink. Clark stuck his hand out and gave Bruce a firm handshake, his eyes crinkling as he beamed at Bruce. Bruce scowled, noticing that Clark was an inch taller than he was. Jon clapped his hands together.

 

“Right then you lot, I’ll let you guys get ready. Any problems, you know where my office is.” Jon left the break room, leaving what would have been awkward silence if the TV wasn’t still blaring. Clark smiled at the three of them.

 

“So… is there anything I should know before I start?” Dick grinned.

 

“There are a few things. First and most important rule: don’t bother trying to interact with Bruce when he hasn’t been caffeinated. He’s like an angry vampire that just got woken up from a four thousand year sleep.” Bruce glared at him but Dick just grinned back at him. Diana raised an eyebrow and smiled.

 

“Yes, and another thing to know is that Dick here has a very large crush on Jason but is too scared to do anything about it.” Dick blushed a deep scarlet, making Diana let out a big laugh and Bruce chuckled to himself.

 

“That’s not true!”

 

“What isn’t? That you don’t have a crush or that you’re too scared to ask Jason out like a normal person.” Diana and Dick carried on bickering while Bruce filled a mug with coffee from the machine. Clark pulled out a mug and filled his as well. He took a sip and grimaced slightly.

 

“Ugh, I don’t know how you can drink this stuff, it's so bitter.” Bruce noticed that he had a slight lilt to his accent. He shrugged.

 

“It’s an acquired taste.”

 

Jason chose this moment to arrive to work, two minutes before 7pm. Bruce rolled his eyes.

 

“Let’s go Kent. We’re on patrol duty first.”

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr @atthenian if you like! feel free to say hi!


End file.
